The Beat Generation/or the Beat Generation was a loosely knit group of young poets and writers who emerged in the United States after World War II. This name was first coined by the writer Jack. Kerouac proposed it around 1948. In English, the adjective "beat" means "tired" or "down and out", but Kerouac gave it a new meaning of "jubilation" or "happiness", which is connected with the concept of "beat" in music. . Since then, the title of "Beat Generation" has been spread through various media. The "Beat Generation" is actually a contrast to the "Lost Generation". Hemingway created the "Lost Generation" in his novel "The Sun Still Rises". This title comes from the famous American writer Stein's sentence for the title of "The Sun Still Rises" - "You are the Lost Generation." . The "Lost Generation" refers to the young people who grew up after the First World War (including Hemingway). The reason why they lost their faith in life was due to the trauma of the war, but they did not lose their desire for humanity because of this. . The "Beat Generation" is different. Many of them have lost the most basic understanding of human nature. Using the term "Beat Generation" also expresses the public's disappointment and dissatisfaction with them. The reason why such a small group of down-and-out writers, students, fraudsters, and drug addicts is regarded as a "generation" is because this group of people played a decisive role in the formation of American postmodernist culture after World War II. In the field of Western literature, the "Beat Generation" is regarded as an important branch of postmodernist literature and one of the important schools in the history of American literature. Most of the members of the "Beat Generation" were cynical swingers who believed deeply in liberal ideals. Their ideas for literary creation are often spontaneous and sometimes very chaotic. The works created by writers of the "Beat Generation" are often widely controversial because these works usually do not adhere to the conventions of traditional creation, are often messy in structure and form, and have rough and even vulgar language. The "Beat Generation" had a profound impact on later generations of Western culture, and is regarded by cultural studies scholars as the first truly postmodern "subculture." Important literary works of the "Beat Generation" include Jack. "On the Road" by Kerouac (1922-1969), Alan. "Howl" by Ginsberg (1926-1997) and William. "Naked Lunch" by Borrows (1914-1997), etc. The latter two works attracted the attention of the courts due to their "obscene" content, but also contributed to the process of legalizing the publication of such literary works in the United States. 1. The historical background of the United States in the 1950s after the war. The United States in the 1950s was a decade of pursuit of materialism and a decade of "identity." The shortage of materials in the United States during the Great Depression and World War II made the American people's pursuit of material goods the main goal of life after the war. In particular, the ideal family life depicted by television media and advertisements further promoted people's pursuit of material goods; after the war, From cars to clothes, from social behavior to politics, the United States shows "identity" everywhere; moreover, most women at that time had only one choice: to obey as a housewife and mother; during the Cold War, the United States led its alliance The United States fought against the Soviet Communist Alliance, which allowed the U.S. government to convict and even persecute dissidents at will, believing that non-Christians in society threatened the security of the U.S. government. It was in this social atmosphere that a group of writers rose up to express their aversion to society's pursuit of materialism and "sameness" through their poetry and their unique lifestyles, and elaborated on their loneliness of being alienated from society. At the same time, they were on their own journey. Explore the true meaning of life. This group of writers later became known as: The Beats. Interpreting The Beats from On the Roads "On The Road" is considered one of the masterpieces of the 1950s in the United States. It not only created a new literary path in the United States in terms of literature, but more importantly, it is the epitome of the Beat Ggeneration in the United States in the 1950s. 2. Beats' attitude towards life: They are passionate and eager for life, live wildly and uninhibitedly, and explore the true meaning of life through their own "adventures". And their "adventure" is traveling around and experiencing all kinds of new things. "On the Road": "They rushed to the streets together to find and explore the things that interested them at the time, although later these things would become boring and boring in their eyes. Then they went on adventures again, going Find new interests.” "Their lives are wild and uninhibited, they speak passionately, they are very demanding in life, and they hope to have everything. They disdain ordinary things, but they are eager to burn, burning like the giant yellow Roman candles in mythology, eager to explode. , emitting blue light in the explosion like a planetary impact, is amazing. "Beats pursues freedom and is disgusted with conventional life. Dean describes those people who follow the old ways: "Look at these people in front of them, they are always worried, calculating how far they have traveled, where to sleep tonight, how much gas will cost, what the weather is like, how to get there in the end, etc. wait" .

“Millions of people are running around endlessly, like a nightmare—plundering, grabbing, losing, sighing, dying, just so they can get themselves a cemetery in the cities outside Long Island.” The new generation of young people such as Saul and Dean do not want to live such an old and boring life. They choose to travel across the United States and seek the true meaning of life "on the road." "We are going to do everything we have never done before or thought we wouldn't do it before." They have the fear of dying at any time and live a "carpe diem" life. After experiencing World War II, this group of people entered the Cold War and the "Red" political persecution of McCarthyism. Coupled with the threat of nuclear weapons, they had a fear of death at any time. "The God of Death will kill us before we enter heaven." catch". Just like Sol. Peratis said: "Life is sacred and every second is precious," which also explains why Dean. Moriarty "seemed to be doing everything at once." At the same time, they use all their energy to experience as many things as possible while they are alive. Their attitude towards life has also become carpe diem - "Oh, we should carpe diem and let things be as they are." 3. Beats’ behavior 3.2.1 Wandering Many times they travel by hitchhiking, and sometimes they live a wandering life with no money. And it is at this moment that they feel life and explore the true meaning of life during the journey when they are facing death. "On the Road" expresses their understanding of life during their wanderings in many places. "Our broken luggage is piled on the roadside again. There is still a long way to go, but it doesn't matter. Life itself is an endless road." "What's your path, man? - The path of the saint, the path of the madman, the path of nothingness, the path of indifference, or something else? To some extent, everyone has his own "The question is: How to go?" "While passing through the great desert at the border of Colorado and Utah, above the desert, in the clouds illuminated by the sun, I saw God. He seemed to He held out his finger and said to me, “Go through here and keep going. You are on the road to heaven. "Oh, okay, let's keep moving forward." 3.2.2 Taking drugs Another experience of Beats is taking drugs. The Beats were one of the first groups in American history to engage in casual drug use, with the main popular drugs being marijuana, amphetamines, amphetamines and heroin. "In San Francisco, almost everyone takes drugs. This is the end of the continent and no one will care about you." They experience fun and excitement from the hallucinations of drug use, which inspires their understanding of life. In Chapter 4, Section 2, the novel uses Dean to describe to us the feeling after smoking marijuana. "On the first day, I lay on the bed as straight as a wooden board. I could neither move nor speak. I just stared straight ahead with my eyes wide open. I could hear the buzzing in my head and the flashes in front of my eyes. I saw all kinds of images and it was so wonderful. The next day, I gradually became aware. Everything I had done, knew, read, heard and imagined came back into my mind. Arranged in a new logical way, because I couldn't think of anything but wonder and excitement, and I kept saying 'Okay, okay', which was the only way to calm down a little bit. These marijuana-induced hallucinations continued until the first day. It took three days for me to gradually understand what had happened, and my entire life was decided." 3.2.3 Sex During their journey, they would look for women wherever they went. At that time, "prostitutes could be found in all major cities" in the United States. Dean was very attracted by girls. He married three women. Married, but she left him because she couldn't stand his wild and unruly life. At the same time, Dean is also liked by men. In the novel, Carlo Marx likes Dean, and the two of them "almost stayed together chatting without sleep or food." Allen Ginsberg, the real prototype of Carlo Marx, was also a homosexual. Open homosexuality was not only rare in the 1950s, but also unacceptable. Allen Ginsberg fought for homosexuality and strived for a more open life. 3.2.4 Understand women and encourage women’s liberation. The typical life of American women in the 1950s was to stay at home, raise their husbands and raise children, and their lives were boring and “same”. beats encourages women to get out of the traditional boring life of raising husbands and raising children, and encourages them to have their own wonderful lives. In the novel, Saul Peratis expresses his sympathy for women: "The fact is that we all don't understand women and always blame them for the fault. We only have so much ability." Chapter 2, Section 2 of the novel describes a woman It's called the girl looking for Rita Betcourt. When Sol asked her, "What do you want from life?" the girl lamented and replied, "I don't know, I just want to serve people well at the table and don't cause trouble." Sol "covered it with his hand. opened her mouth and told her not to sigh. I wanted to tell her how exciting my life was and how much we could do together. "We lay together, staring at the ceiling, both of us confused. Why does God allow humanity to suffer so much?" Before the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the women of the Beat Ggeneration were trying to carve out their own lives. 3.2.5 Music Beats like jazz and crazy pop music, and they regard jazz performances as a kind of "carpe diem". On the road, they like to turn on the radio and listen to all kinds of popular music.

At the bar, they were thrilled and excited by the jazz musician's performance. The novel contains many descriptions of jazz musicians performing in bars. "Lola didn't complain about anything. He was a great scholar. He often stumbled to the New York waterfront with a 17th-century musical score manuscript under his arm, singing at the top of his lungs. He jumped from the street like a big spider. Crawling over, excited eyes flashed through his eyes. In extreme excitement, his neck would twist like crazy, his speech would be slurred, he would curl up in pain, and he would walk back and forth with heavy steps. , he sighed, howled, and finally collapsed in despair, unable to say a word." 3.3 Beats was not understood by the world at the time and was not understood or accepted by most Americans. It was also described in the novel: "They. They sat around and stared at Dean with contempt. "You don't think about anyone but yourself and your damn pleasure." How much money and happiness can you get from other people and then just throw them away. You're just so stupid that you never think about what life is serious about and what everyone is doing instead of being bored." And Dean. "He stood alone in the doorway like a ghost, staring at the street. Pain, accusations, persuasion, preaching, etc. followed him, and before him was full of frustration and madness." But they continued as usual. their revolutionary journey.